This year will mark our 27th year of farming here in the Nisqually Valley. As most of you know we have been looking towards retirement for a few years now, and many of you have wondered if we were going to be back this year. We are happy to report that although there will be a few changes again this year we will still have a CSA and be growing the same great fruits and vegetables for you!

This has been a particularly wet winter with many of our fields in standing water which has given us some time to rest and to look forward to the coming season. We have decided to make a step toward retirement by scaling back how much we are doing. This last year we grew on about 6 acres of the farm; we had about 85 people in our CSA with 6 pickup locations; participated 4 days per week at the Olympia Farmers Market; hosted a farm stand once per week (mini market) at a state office building; sold produce to both Olympia Co-ops, the Yelm Co-op, Farm Fresh Produce and several restaurants.

This upcoming year we will be scaling back to about 2.5 acres; we will only be accepting 30 people into the CSA and pickup will only be at the farm; we will still be sending some produce to the Olympia Co-ops although not as much; we will still be at the Olympia Farmers market; we will continue to have U-pick Strawberries and Raspberries as well as the pumpkin patch in the fall. (Our CSA is open for signups now - head over to the CSA page for more info and to sign up today as space is limited!)

So, if we are only using half the land to grow produce what happens to the rest? We anticipate turning a good portion into additional pasture grazing for cows, which may mean additional beef shares will be available in the fall. We also have leased about a half-acre to a local non-profit group, Faith Harvest Helpers, to help them learn how to grow produce on a larger scale than back yard gardening. The food that they grow on their half-acre will be distributed via their local food bank.

Photo by Mary Ellen Psaltis 2015

Another change you may notice is the farm name will be changing from Pigmans Organic Produce Patch to Pigmans Produce. We assure you this will in no way change the way that we grow your food! Because of the rules and expense involved with organic certification we have decided (after being Certified Organic for 20 years) to not pursue recertification this year. Because we will not be going through the recertification process we will not be allowed to use the word Organic in our farm name or label our food as such. Please note however that we are not changing how we grow your food! We will still be using all the same methods and healthy amendments that we have used in prior years. Our food will still be ‘organic’, healthy and safe, we simply will not be paying to use the term. If you have any questions about how we grow your food we would be happy to answer them.

We want to thank all of you again for being a part of our extended farm family. Some of you have only been with us for a year, some since the beginning and we are so very grateful for your continued support. We love growing nutritious food for our community and are thankful that we are able to keep providing for so many.